A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a scanning system that captures a series of two-dimensional images containing surface information of objects. The scanning system generates an accurate three-dimensional computer model of the object from the captured images. The invention also relates to method for deriving the three-dimensional information from the captured images.
The inventive scanning system and method can be used to analyze the surface and three-dimensional shape of virtually any three-dimensional object, including work pieces and manufactured objects, art objects, archaeological artifacts, and large scale structures such as rooms and buildings. The invention is particularly useful in medical-related applications, including orthodontics, and the present document discusses the invention in the context of orthodontics and the scanning of teeth (either scanning in-vivo or a scanning a physical model). However, other uses of the scanner and method are of course within the scope of the invention.
B. Description of Related Art
Scanners are devices for capturing and recording information from a surface of an object. Scanners for obtaining information from a two-dimensional surface, such as reading bar codes or characters printed on a piece of paper, are widely known. Several scanners have been proposed for recording three-dimensional information as well.
Dentistry and orthodontics is one area where precise knowledge of a patient's dentition is desirable, and hence this is one area where three-dimensional scanners have been proposed. The key to efficiency in treatment and maximum quality in results is a realistic simulation of the treatment process. Today's orthodontists have the possibility of taking plaster models of the upper and lower jaw, cutting the cast into single tooth models and sticking these tooth models into a wax bed, lining them up in the desired position, the so-called set-up. This approach allows for reaching a perfect occlusion without any guessing. The next step is to bond a bracket at every tooth model. This would tell the orthodontist the geometry of the wire to run through the bracket slots to receive exactly this result. To make sure that the brackets will be bonded at exactly this position at the real patient's teeth, small templates for every tooth would have to be fabricated that fit over the bracket and a relevant part of the tooth and allow for reliable placement of the bracket at the patient. To increase efficiency of the bonding process, another option would be to transfer each single bracket onto a model of the malocclusion and then fabricate one single transfer tray per jaw that covers all brackets and relevant portions of every tooth. Using such a transfer tray guarantees a very quick and yet precise bonding.
However, it is obvious that such an approach requires an extreme amount of time and labor, and this is the reason why it is not widely used. The typical orthodontist does not fabricate set-ups; he places the brackets directly at the patient to the best of his knowledge, uses an off-the-shelf wire and hopes for the best. While at the beginning of treatment things generally run well as all teeth start to move at least into the right direction, at the end of treatment a lot of time is lost by adaptations and corrections required due to the fact that the end result has not been properly planned at any point of time. For the orthodontist this is still preferable over the lab process described above, as the efforts for the lab process would still exceed the efforts that he has to put in during treatment. And the patient has no choice and does not know that treatment time could be significantly reduced if proper planning was done.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,732 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,805 to Brandestini and Moermann propose a scanning system for in vivo, non-contact scanning of teeth. The patents describe a procedure for optically mapping a prepared tooth with a non-contact scan-head. The scan-head delivers the contour data, converted to electrical format, to be stored in a memory. A computer reads the memory following a line scan pattern. A milling device is slaved to follow this pattern by means of position control signals and mills an implant for the prepared tooth cavity.
The scan-head of the '732 and '805 patents includes a light emitting diode, with integral lens that radiates light onto the cavity. Before reaching the object, the rays of light are reflected by a mirror and pass through a ruling consisting of a plurality of parallel slits, or an alternating pattern of parallel opaque and transparent stripes. The reflected light is focused by a lens onto a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor. Depth information is determined in accordance with a principle known as “active triangulation,” using parameters shown in FIG. 9 of this document and described subsequently. Basically, the object is viewed under an angle different from the incident rays due to a parallax effect. Each light stripe will have an apparent positional shift and the amount of the shift at each point along each light stripe is proportional to the vertical height of the corresponding portion of the surface on the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,502 to Massen et al. describes an optical probe for measuring teeth that works on a similar principle. As noted in the Massen et al. patent, the Brandestini et al. technique is difficult to use when there are large variations in surface topography since such large jumps displace the pattern by an amount larger than the phase constant of the pattern, making it difficult to reconstruct the pattern of lines. Furthermore, precise knowledge of the angle of incidence and angle of reflection, and the separation distance between the light source and the detector, are needed to make accurate determinations of depth. Furthermore, the scanner has to be rather carefully positioned with respect to the tooth and would be unable to make a complete model of the dentition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,281 to Rekow et al. describes a scanning method using a three axis positioning head with a laser source and detector, a rotational stage and a computer controller. The computer controller positions both the rotational stage and the positioning head. An object is placed on the rotational stage and the laser beam reflects from it. The reflected laser beam is used to measure the distance between the object and the laser source. X and Y coordinates are obtained by movement of the rotational stage or the positioning head. A three-dimensional virtual model of the object is created from the laser scanning. The '281 patent describes using this scanning method for scanning a plaster model of teeth for purposes of acquiring shape of the teeth to form a dental prosthesis. The system of the '281 patent is not particularly flexible, since it requires the object to be placed on the rotational stage and precise control of the relative position of the object and the positioning head is required at all times. It is unsuited for in vivo scanning of the teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,562 to Andreiko et al. describes a method of acquiring certain shape information of teeth from a plaster model of the teeth. The plaster model is placed on a table and a picture is taken of the teeth using a video camera positioned a known distance away from the model, looking directly down on the model. The image is displayed on an input computer and a positioning grid is placed over the image of the teeth. The operator manually inputs X and Y coordinate information of selected points on the teeth, such as the mesial and distal contact points of the teeth. An alternative embodiment is described in which a laser directs a laser beam onto a model of the teeth and the reflected beam is detected by a sensor. The patent asserts that three-dimensional information as to teeth can be acquired from this technique but does not explain how it would be done. Neither of the techniques of Andreiko have met with widespread commercial success or acceptance in orthodontics. Neither technique achieves in vivo scanning of teeth. Moreover, the video technique does not produce complete three-dimensional information as to the teeth, but rather a limited amount of two-dimensional information, requiring significant manual operator input. Even using this technique, additional equipment is required even to describe the labial surface of a tooth along a single plane.
What the art has lacked is a reliable, accurate, low-cost, and easily used scanning system that can quickly and automatically acquire three-dimensional information of an object, without requiring substantial operator input, and in particular one that can be held in the hand and used for in vivo scanning or scanning a model. The present invention meets this need.